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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

(Red) Banana Halwa - Chev vazhai pazha Halwa

Step out of Palakkad (Palghat) station and all you can see is shop after shop, tempting you with different varieties of Halwas (or Haluwa! as they call it) and Chips. Vibrant colors and the rich aroma of ghee - ummm :-) They make a good combination too - halwa for sweet and chips for something savory. We always bring back freshly-made Halwa and Chips (especially love the sweet banana chips ;-)) whenever we visit Palakkad.

Bananas and Halwa go hand-in-hand - both are gooey substances and since bananas are so sweet themselves, we can cut down on the added sugar and still have a great-tasting sweet! In addition, this doesn't take more than 25 minutes (end-to-end) on stove-top and it just tasted awesome even with the minimum amount of ghee I used :-) I'm very happy with the results and so were my guests!

I didn't plan to use Chev vazhais (Chivappu means Red in Tamil, Chev is derived from it) specifically but I was ecstatic when I spotted them in Bukit Gombak market one day! You can use any bananas to make this Halwa!

Method -

Stir well for about 12-15 minutes. Take care to ensure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of your kadai/pan.

Add 1 tsp of ghee and add all the sugar and mix well with the banana mixture in the kadai.

Wait until the banana puree changes to a brown color (பழுப்பு நிறம்). By this time, the whole mixture comes together so well into a mass (see pic below). The glossy effect is due to the caramelization of sugar (we haven't added much ghee, remember?)

Divya..i am from palakkad :-) And u r soo right abt the Halwa shops near the station..Craving for some banana halwa now:) This version is so slight.. Usually the halwa recipes call for oodles of ghee.I have to try this:-)

If you'd used more number of bananas, the time will increase proportionately...I hope the fruits were ripe and you mashed them really well. I can't imagine any reason why it would have taken so long for you....:-(